Caramel

Caramel is the new film by Nadine Labaki who both directed and starred. This picture explores the socio-political persecution of females in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. With this underlying thematic critique, it is also a film full of visual pleasure. The opening shot moves over solidified caramel, a rich golden brown as it cuts to manicured hands, the bubbling of sugar in a pan, and mouths tasting the sweet, supple confection.

The film follows five women, three young women who work at a beauty parlor, one middle aged woman, Jamale, who is a regular customer, and one older woman, Rose, who works as a tailor next door. Layale is having a secret affair with a married man. Nisrine is about to be married and is no longer a virgin. Rima is attracted to women. Jamale is worried about getting older as she seeks employment as an actress. Rose is the sole caretaker for her older mentally unbalanced sister, Lili.

The beauty parlor is a refuge for these women. It is a space for and operated by women. When any men do enter the parlor, it is either a great event or a hurried delivery. Even the broken sign over the entrance comes to symbolically embody these women and their shared lives. The name of the beauty parlor is Si Belle; however the B is hanging off the sign spelling the word, Si elle. So Beautiful becomes So She or If She depending on translation and evocative of the beauty of these women and the suspenseful anticipation of their desires. Labaki includes two scenes of the women locking up the beauty salon for the night, as if to remind the audience of its presence as a sanctuary during the day where the women are able to be their true selves, away from their night world of expectation and control.

Caramel is, at its heart, a love story. By love, I do not mean that which romantic comedies make light of, but rather love in the way it challenges, hurts, and ultimately makes us smile and sing. Caramel is the perfect title for this kind of exploration of love—a sticky sweet substance that when applied to the skin, shocks repeatedly upon removal. Caramel’s love is between sisters, friends, women, and men. Including young and old, love hovers near or is unspoken from afar. Love is haphazard in its translation.

The audience is invited to be friend and confident, sharing intimate moments and secrets. While the film is not perfect, it’s imperfections remind us of the characters own flaws.
The use of inter-cutting and other subtle phrasing suggests the deep symbolism of these women’s employment and their lives in Beirut. One sequence shows Rose hemming the suit of her suitor and Nisrine as she lays on the operating table to have her vagina sewn to return her virginity for the marriage bed.

Caramel is heartbreaking and hilarious. This duality is most subtly combined in the character of Lili and in the music of composer, Mouzanar The use of circular shapes and lighting within the mis-en-scene marks an exciting aesthetic that I have not seen before and highlights the human shape in the rectangular frame. Additionally, the closed blinds add to the sense of secrecy of the female world, hidden from the patriarchal gaze of the state. The eye candy is not bad either--I couldn't resist!